I will preface my remarks by saying that I am basically a novice at photography. I used to have a Canon A-1 for casual photography and used it a few times to take photos with my Kowa TSN2 spotting scope (with Kowa adapter and Bushnell T-ring Canon camera mount). I've been birding for about 40 years, fyi.
Anyway... there are a couple hawks here that I am trying to figure out what is going on. There seems to be an adult male with an immature female (yellow eyes, streaking on the breast, not barring, --- Cooper's, I think) raising at least two little white babies.
It is a long way off to get a decent shot --- about*100 yards.
The camera that we have*now is an entry level camera, Nikon D3500, with a 300mm maximum zoom lens. Actually, it is not too bad zoom-wise, to get a photo of the bird and then crop it, to bring up a little more details (although blurry). But the problem is the focus. It seems really hard to get a good focus on the bird itself.
Not sure if getting another lens would help with the focus or not.*If I could get a better focus, somehow, maybe it would not be necessary to get a different*camera.
Considering getting a Nikon P900, or P950, or P1000.
It would be nice to possibly use the*camera as a substitute for carrying binoculars. So, I guess I'm asking another question, is there such a thing as a camera that could substitute for carrying binoculars?
Not trying to shoot birds in flight necessarily, but it would be nice if it was possible to get a photo in flight that would help with identification.
Not looking to get the highest quality*images to compete for any magazine covers or anything, but would like to get pretty good images that will be nice to show others, but mostly for the purpose of identifying the bird I am seeing.*
A couple concerns that I have with purchasing a P900, P950, or P1000 (or any camera for that matter) is how well it takes photos in darker shaded areas like under bushes during a cloudy day or at dusk or dawn, or when trying to take a photo of a bird at the top of a tree against a cloudy overcast sky. It is such a challenge*to see birds (from underneath especially) with binoculars at the top of a tree against a cloudy overcast sky. So I'm asking, is it difficult to get a good photo of a bird in these instances with any of these models?
The P1000 is 49 ounces. The P950 is 35.5 ounces. The P900 is 32 ounces.
My binoculars weigh about 35 ounces so I'm used to carrying something fairly heavy.
The P1000 has a 77mm lens (you can get a lens hood, if that is useful).
The P900 and P950 have 67mm lenses.
They all seem to have the same sensor.
The P1000 has a 125X optical zoom, 24mm-3000mm (35mm equivalent).
The P900 and P950 have 83X optical zoom, 24-2000mm (35mm equivalent).
The P1000 can switch between autofocus and manual focus, and use a manual focus ring. The other two use a switch on the side of the camera.
The P950 and P1000 can shoot in full 4K it sounds like (this not something I would need).
The P950 and P1000 have a "bird watching" mode, but not sure how useful that would be.
The P950 and P1000 have a*hot shoe*mount so you can mount a dot sight (to track subjects at a distance), or a light, or a*microphone.
The P950 and P1000 shoot in RAW (not sure exactly what that means, if that is something I would be using or not).
Maybe there are some other differences, but those seem to be the main ones to*me.
Looking for any advice or suggestions.
Dennis
Anyway... there are a couple hawks here that I am trying to figure out what is going on. There seems to be an adult male with an immature female (yellow eyes, streaking on the breast, not barring, --- Cooper's, I think) raising at least two little white babies.
It is a long way off to get a decent shot --- about*100 yards.
The camera that we have*now is an entry level camera, Nikon D3500, with a 300mm maximum zoom lens. Actually, it is not too bad zoom-wise, to get a photo of the bird and then crop it, to bring up a little more details (although blurry). But the problem is the focus. It seems really hard to get a good focus on the bird itself.
Not sure if getting another lens would help with the focus or not.*If I could get a better focus, somehow, maybe it would not be necessary to get a different*camera.
Considering getting a Nikon P900, or P950, or P1000.
It would be nice to possibly use the*camera as a substitute for carrying binoculars. So, I guess I'm asking another question, is there such a thing as a camera that could substitute for carrying binoculars?
Not trying to shoot birds in flight necessarily, but it would be nice if it was possible to get a photo in flight that would help with identification.
Not looking to get the highest quality*images to compete for any magazine covers or anything, but would like to get pretty good images that will be nice to show others, but mostly for the purpose of identifying the bird I am seeing.*
A couple concerns that I have with purchasing a P900, P950, or P1000 (or any camera for that matter) is how well it takes photos in darker shaded areas like under bushes during a cloudy day or at dusk or dawn, or when trying to take a photo of a bird at the top of a tree against a cloudy overcast sky. It is such a challenge*to see birds (from underneath especially) with binoculars at the top of a tree against a cloudy overcast sky. So I'm asking, is it difficult to get a good photo of a bird in these instances with any of these models?
The P1000 is 49 ounces. The P950 is 35.5 ounces. The P900 is 32 ounces.
My binoculars weigh about 35 ounces so I'm used to carrying something fairly heavy.
The P1000 has a 77mm lens (you can get a lens hood, if that is useful).
The P900 and P950 have 67mm lenses.
They all seem to have the same sensor.
The P1000 has a 125X optical zoom, 24mm-3000mm (35mm equivalent).
The P900 and P950 have 83X optical zoom, 24-2000mm (35mm equivalent).
The P1000 can switch between autofocus and manual focus, and use a manual focus ring. The other two use a switch on the side of the camera.
The P950 and P1000 can shoot in full 4K it sounds like (this not something I would need).
The P950 and P1000 have a "bird watching" mode, but not sure how useful that would be.
The P950 and P1000 have a*hot shoe*mount so you can mount a dot sight (to track subjects at a distance), or a light, or a*microphone.
The P950 and P1000 shoot in RAW (not sure exactly what that means, if that is something I would be using or not).
Maybe there are some other differences, but those seem to be the main ones to*me.
Looking for any advice or suggestions.
Dennis
